Toy tow truck

ABSTRACT

A toy tow truck having a hoist boom pivoted at its forward end to the truck body for raising and lowering movement with a tow bar suspended from the rear end of the boom and an upright lever having its lower end pivoted to the body and having an intermediate portion engaging a slot in the boom to raise and lower the boom as the lever is swung in fore and aft directions. The boom is locked into position by the lever which seats in its pivot sockets under internal spring tension eliminating the need for rivets or pivot pins to mount either component.

United States Patent Zbikowski et al.

[54] TOY TOW TRUCK [72] inventors: Theodore H. Zbikowski, Plymouth;Douglas S. Jensen; Lee J. Pteilsticker, both of Mound, all of Minn.

[73] Assignee: Tonka Corporation, Mound, Minn. [22] Filed: Mar. 15, 1971[21] Appl. No.: 124,220

3,462,879 8/1969 Fahrendorff ..46/2l4 3,492,757 2/1970 Balthazor ..46/40Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-Robert F. CuttingAttorney-Carlson, Carlsen & Sturm [57] ABSTRACT A toy tow truck having ahoist boom pivoted at its forward end to the truck body for raising andlowering movement with a tow bar suspended from the rear end of the boomand an upright lever having its lower end pivoted to the body and havingan intermediate portion engaging a slot in the boom to raise and lowerthe boom as the lever is swung in fore and aft directions. The boom islocked into position by the lever which seats in its pivot sockets underinternal spring tension eliminating the need for rivets or pivot pins tomount either component.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures TOY TOW TRUCK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates generally to miniature toy vehicles and moreparticularly concerns the construction and operation of a boom and theoperating mechanism therefor on a toy tow truck or wrecker.

Miniature toy tow trucks are generally provided with a fixed boomangling upwardly and rearwardly in the truck box and a tow hooksuspended from the end of the boom by a cord which is wound or unwoundby a suitable crank mechanism. In structures where the boom is pivotedthe pivotal connection is effected by a pivot pin or rivet which notonly is a factor in the cost of manufacture but also prohibitsdisassembly by the child user without breakage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is toprovide a new boom construction for a toy vehicle tow truck wherein thetruck mounted boom is pivoted at its lower end and can be raised andlowered by a lever also pivoted on the truck and having a slidinginterfitting connection with the boom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a toy vehicle tow truckconstruction having a boom and operating lever both pivoted to the truckfor raising and lowering movement of the boom and wherein the pivotalconnections are accomplished without the use of pivot pins, rivets, benttabs or the like.

With these objectives in mind the invention broadly comprises aminiature toy truck having a truck box with a pair of fore and aftextending slots in the forward portion of the bottom thereof andtransversely opposing apertures in the rear portions of the side wallsthereof, a boom having hook tabs at its forward end adapted to fit insaid slots with the boom extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom,said boom having transversely aligned slots in the side walls thereof, aU-shaped control lever extending horizontally through the slots andhaving end portions journaled in said apertures whereby as the lever isswung forwardly and rearwardly about its journal axis the boom will beraised and lowered along with a tow bar suspended from the rear end ofthe boom.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a toy tow truck embodying the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the truck with the boom in loweredposition.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section through the truck box andwrecker boom taken on line 33 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a transverse section through the truck taken on line 4-4 ofFIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now more particularlyto the drawings reference numerals will be used to denote like parts orstructural features in the different views. A miniature toy tow truckdenoted generally by the numeral has a chassis 11 supported on axles 12which carry ground wheels 14. The truck has a cab 15 mounted on theforward portion of chassis 1 l and a truck box 16 mounted on the rearportion of the chassis extending over the rear wheels 14. Box 16 has anupwardly opening compartment defined by a bottom wall 17, side walls 18and front and rear walls denoted at 19 and 20 respectively.

The bottom wall 17 is provided with a pair of transversely spaced foreand aft extending slots 21 which are near the side walls 18. Mediallybetween slots 21 and the rear wall 20 the side walls 18 are providedwith transversely aligned apertures 22 adjacent to the bottom wall 17.

A wrecker boom denoted generally at 24 designed to simulate theappearance of a tow truck boom formed out of sheet metal or plastic hasan elongated shell-like shape of generally rearward tapering design. Theside walls 25 of the boom each has a forwardly projecting hook portion26 formed at its lower forward edge adapted to be inserted one into eachslot 21 and hook under the box bottom wall 17 as shown in FIG. 3. Thishooking engagement forms a transversely horizontal pivot axis forraising and lowering movement of boom 24. The rear portion of the boom24 is provided with opposing elongated slots 27 in the side walls whichangle upwardly and rearwardly in general parallelism with the boomitself. The top wall 28 of the boom has an elongated slot 29 extendinglongitudinally therealong in transversely centered position.

The control lever is denoted generally by the number 30. It comprises asection or rigid resilient wire bent centrally back upon itself to forma handle 31. The legs then angle outwardly and downwardly as at 32 and33 in a U-shape with the legs terminating in coaxial feet 34 extendingoutwardly in opposite directions. Both handle 31 and leg portions 33 aresomewhat shorter than the slot 27. It is accordingly possible to insertthe control lever sidewise into the boom 24 by inserting one leg 33through one slot 27, then moving the lever to the rear of the slot 27 toallow handle 31 to move through the slot, then moving lever 30 forwardlyin the slot until said one leg 33 can be passed through the other slot27 and handle 31 can be swung upwardly through slot 29. The boom 24 andcontrol lever 30 are thus relatively assembled before mounting of theassembly on the truck.

In mounting the boom assembly on the truck box 16 the hook portions 26are inserted into the slots 21 in the truck bottom 17. The legs 33 oflever 30 are then squeezed slightly together against internal springtension and the feet 34 are inserted into apertures 22 forming a pivotaxis for the lever. In this manner the boom 24 and lever 30 are mountedon the box without the need of pivot pins, rivets, bent tabs or thelike. By squeezing legs 33 together the feet may be removed fromapertures 22 and the assembly removed for use of-the truck as a pick-uptruck rather than a wrecker.

The upper rear portions of the boom side walls 25 are provided withopposing apertures 36. A tow bar 37 formed of heavy wire is bent in aV-shape with legs 38 converging into a hook portion 39 adapted to engageunder the bumper of a towed vehicle. The upper terminals of legs 38 arebent outwardly as at 39 on a common axis for respective insertion intothe apertures 36, the legs 38 being squeezed together to effect suchinsertion. Friction cap nuts 40 may be forced onto terminals 39 tosecure them against removal.

It will be understood from observation of FIG. 3 that as the controllever 31 is moved rearwardly the lever portions 32 will ride along slots27 to lower the boom 24 and tow bar 37. Conversely, as the handle ismoved forwardly the boom and tow bar will be raised along with the frontend of a towed vehicle suspended from the bar. It will also be observedthat when the boom is in raised position control lever 30 is disposed atsubstantially right angles to the slot 27 to frictionally lock the boomin that position.

Having now therefore fully illustrated and described our invention, whatwe claim to be new and desire to protect by United States Letters Patentis:

1. In a toy tow truck having a fore and aft extending truck box,

a. an elongated wrecker boom extending in fore and aft direction overthe truck box,

b. means providing a hinge connection between the forward end of theboom and the truck box,

c. the boom having a longitudinally extending transversely opening slottherein,

d. a control lever journaled on the rear portion of the truck box forfore and aft swinging movement and extending through said boom slot toraise the boom as the lever is swung forwardly and lower the boom as thelever is swung rearwardly.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 wherein said boom hinge connection andcontrol lever journal are both manually releasable with said controllever locking the boom against release when the lever is journaled.

3. In a toy tow truck,

a. a truck box mounted on the truck having a bottom wall and fore andaft extending side walls,

b. the bottom wall having a pair of transversely spaced fore and aftextending slots in the forward portion thereof,

c. said side walls having transversely aligned apertures in the rearportions thereof,

d. an elongated boom extending in a fore and aft direction and having apair of transversely spaced hook tabs at its forward end seatedrespectively in said slots and forming a hinge connection between theboom and box for raising and lowering movement of the boom,

e. an upright control lever having transversely aligned terminals at itslower end respectively journaled in said apertures to form a pivotalconnection between the lever and box for swinging the lever forwardlyand rearwardly, and

f. said lever having a sliding connection with the boom to raise orlower the boom as the lever is swung forwardly or rearwardly 4. Thesubject matter of claim 3 wherein said boom has elongated transverselyopening slots extending longitudinally thereof, and said lever having aninverted U-shape with the bight portion thereof extending through saidslot to form said sliding connection.

5. The subject matter of claim 3 wherein a tow bar is suspended from therear end of the boom for pivotal movement on a transverse axis.

fil II! l l

1. In a toy tow truck having a fore and aft extending truck box, a. anelongated wrecker boom extending in fore and aft direction over thetruck box, b. means providing a hinge connection between the forward endof the boom and the truck box, c. the boom having a longitudinallyextending transversely opening slot therein, d. a control leverjournaled on the rear portion of the truck box for fore and aft swingingmovement and extending through said boom slot to raise the boom as thelever is swung forwardly and lower the boom as the lever is swungrearwardly.
 2. The subject matter of claim 1 wherein said boom hingeconnection and control lever journal are both manually releasable withsaid control lever locking the boom against release when the lever isjournaled.
 3. In a toy tow truck, a. a truck box mounted on the truckhaving a bottom wall and fore and aft extending side walls, b. thebottom wall having a pair of transversely spaced fore and aft extendingslots in the forward portion thereof, c. said side walls havingtransversely aligned apertures in the rear portions thereof, d. anelongated boom extending in a fore and aft direction and having a pairof transversely spaced hook tabs at its forward end seated respectivelyin said slots and forming a hinge connection between the boom and boxfor raising and lowering movement of the boom, e. an upright controllever having transversely aligned terminals at its lower endrespectively journaled in said apertures to form a pivotal connectionbetween the lever and box for swinging the lever forwardly andrearwardly, and f. said lever having a sliding connection with the boomto raise or lower the boom as the lever is swung forwardly orrearwardly.
 4. The subject matter of claim 3 wherein said boom haselongated transversely opening slots extending longitudinally thereof,and said lever having an inverted U-shape with the bight portion thereofextending through said slot to form said sliding connection.
 5. Thesubject matter of claim 3 wherein a tow bar is suspended from the rearend of the boom for pivotal movement on a transverse axis.